Method and apparatus for cleaning sewer-conduits.



G.'W. OTTERSON.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING SEWER cownuns.

'2 SHEETS-SHEET l- 6 av H t H e APPLICATION FILED DEC-3,1917.

llUllHHIlHIIII'IH INVENTOH A TTOR/VE Y G. W. OTTERSON.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING SEWER cououns. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 8, 1917.

1 374,93 1 Patented Aug. 6, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2. F g

25 INVENTOR ATTOR EY GEORGE W. OTTERSON, 0F SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING SEWER-CONDUITS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 6, 1918.

Application filed December 8, 1917. Serial No. 206,136.

State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Methods and Apparatus for Cleaning Sewer-Conduits, of which the following is a specification.

The purpose of' this invention is to enable sewer conduits to be cleaned of their accumulations much more easily, quickly, effectively-and cheaply than heretofore and without the mess that has been unavoidable with previous methods. Setting aside those sewers which are large enough for boats and workmen to pass through, there have been two general ways of cleaning out sewer lines. ()ne procedure is to drag a bucket for a distance forward in the passage until it is judged to contain a charge and then to pull it back again so that itmay be emptied, the backward pull serving to close valves at the front end of the receptacle to trap its contents. This alternating operation is repeated, each forward and backward movement being longer than the preceding, until a length of the'conduit from one manhole to another has been cleared. In the other method various mechanical devices, some water-turbine driven, are drawnthrough the conduits, dislodging and sweeping the material ahead of them. The progress of these devices must be effected against very substantiaLresistance, rendering the operation correspondingly slow and laborious, the results are not always satisfactory, and the material is merely displaced from one part of the sewer to another, that is to say from the conduit to a manhole, from which latter it must be taken out in sacks or buckets.

In accordance with my invention the accumulations in the conduits are dislodged and removed, out of the conduit and upward to the surface, in a continuous combined operation, progressing throughout a conduit section from one manhole to another. The invention makes use of the hydraulic ejector, the nature of which is known, but which has never been applied in the construction and combination hereinafter described, nor in the manner or for the ends set forth. The ejector is embodied in a head adapted to be drawn through a sewer conduit, and which is provided with draft means for this purpose, and with two trailer hose, one to supply the hydraulic pressure to the ejector jet, which is rearwardly directed in line with a. horizontal throat, and the other to carry away the resulting stream of liquid and solids, in the direction reverse to that of progress. lVith the traveling ejector is associated a funnel or collector, approximating the cross-section of the passage, which prevents any of the material escaping the action of the pressure jet, and directs it thereto. The collector, and such bars or teeth with which it may be provided, performs a certain amount of work in loosening and breaking up the masses, but in so doing does not encounter any severe resistance, 'because of the suction at the intake produced by the ejector jet. Additional, externally acting, forwardly or laterally directed jets may beprovided to aid in the work of distributing the deposits.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a semi-diagrammatic vertical section through a portion of a sewer line and two manholes, illustrating the apparatus in use therein;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-section through the conduit looking at the forward end of the collecting and ejecting device;

Fig. 3 is a cross-section on the line 33 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the conduit and traveling device, with portions in elevation; and

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section takenat right angles to Fig. 4.

The drawing represents schematically a section of a sewer a and a couple of man holes I), 0 opening into it from the street or sidewalk level.

The ejector head comprises a castingal having a U-shaped interior, one horizontal limb 5 of which is connected with hydraulic pressure through a coupling 6 and hose 7. In the other limb 8 an ejector nozzle 9 is formed, the said nozzle being rearwardly ieo directed and in line with a constricted, convergentv and divergent, throat 10. Between the nozzle and throat are intake openings 11 arranged on different sides. A second or discharge hose 12 is connected by a. coupling a suitable height, where it delivers into a suitable receptacle 14, which may be a settling bed adapted to separate the water from the solids, returning the liquid into the sewer. The jet delivered from the nozzle 9 is accordingly to be powerful enough both to eject and deliver the material from the conduit section being cleaned and to elevate it to the desired level.

A conical collector 17 of sheet metal is secured by its small end to a flange 13 on the body of the ejector head close behmd the intake 11, from which it flares 1n :1. forward direction to a diameter and cross-sectlonal contour approximating that 'of the interior of the conduit, being sufliciently smaller than the same to insure free passage Without permitting the escape of any substantial amount of the deposits adhering to the walls. Rollers 19 may be provided on the periphery of the collector to bear upon the walls, and bars 20 in a frame 20 may be provided across its mouth both to break up coherent masses and to guard against the ejector being choked by the entrance of over-large unreducible bodies. Agitator jet openings 21 at the forward part of the casting arranged to deliver high velocity streams forwardly or laterally, or both, assist in preparing the material for the suction and impact action of the main jet. Additional guiding of the head, compelling it to progress in its intended horizontal position, is

afforded by a frame 22 secured to the rear.

part of the casting and extending symmetrically into proximity to the conduit walls, where it is provided with rollers 23.

The forward draft upon the collector and ejector head is effected by a cable 24.- which passes over pulleys 25 and 26 at manhole c to a windlass 27 at the surface. The connection between the cable and the head is shown in the form of a bridle 28, the ends of which are connected by screws 29 to lugs on the sides of a forward part of the ejector castmg.

The two flexible pipes 7 and 12, for pressure and discharge respectively, which are drawn after the head in its forward movement from b to 0, are guided by other suitable pulleys 30, 31 and 32. It will be under stood that these pulleys, as well as those already referred to, are set up and taken down before and after cleaning each section; the particular mode of mounting them, forming no part of the invention, is not illustrated. The discharge hose 12, as already described, delivers everything into the settling tank 14. The other hose is connected or connectible by a coupling 33 with a source of hydraulic pressure, here represented as a pump 34, but which may be a pressure main in the street. Sufiicient lengths of the hose are provided to extend from the tank and pressure source, down the manhole and throughout the extent of sewer to be cleaned. The pressure hose may be provided with detachable roller dollies 35 to keep it from dragging on the street, and under the pressure employed there will be no kinking or buckling to interfere with the operation. The discharge hose may be made in sections, of a noncollapsible metallic type, the sections being added as required during operation, by means of suitable quick, self-locking couplings 36. I l

The pump, where one is used, and the settling bed, are preferably portable, and may be transported from place to place by vehicular means. The pump may derive its supply of water from any convenient source, for example from the settling bed.

Inoperation the collector and ejector head is introduced through a manhole, for example that marked 6, into the adjacent end of the conduit section a. The hose guides 30, 31 and 32 are set up, and the hose, if not already connected to the head, are attached. Meanwhile the cable 23 has been passed through the conduit section to the manhole 0 and there .over the guides 25, 26 upward to the surface to the windlass 27. Pressure is now turned on to the pressure line by starting the pump or otherwise, creating the rearwardly directed ejector jet, which is advanced in this relation through the sewer line toward 0 by draft on the cable 24 effected through the windlass. This -movement calls for the expenditure of little power, for the reason already indicated. The deposits are dislodged from the conduit walls, broken up, and drawn rearward, by the conjoint action of the mechanical and hydraulic agencies, the ejector jet suckmg in the material through the intake and hurling it through the throat and along the discharge hose 12, which follows as the jet advances.

What I claim as new is:

1. Sewer-cleaning apparatus comprising an e ector head adapted to pass through a sewer conduit, means for moving the ejector head along the conduit, and pressure and discharge means having two flexible trailer pipes connected with' the head.

.2. Sewer-cleaning apparatus comprising an ejector head adapted to pass through a sewer conduit and having a pressure nozzle, intake and throat, the nozzle and throat being disposed horizontally and rearwardly directed, means for drawing the head along the conduit, and pressure and discharge hose connected with the nozzle and throat, respectively, of the head and extending rearward therefrom.

3. Sewer-cleaning apparatus comprising a head adapted to pass through a sewer conduit and embodying means for dislodging the accumulations and a hydraulic ejector for removing them, and two-hose means for supplying the nozzle of the ejector with hydraulic pressure and for conducting away the discharge rearwardly and upwardly to the surface. 7

4. Sewer-cleaning apparatus comprising a collector approximating the cross-section of a sewer conduit passage, a hydraulic ejector associated with the collector, means for drawing the collector and ejector through the conduit, and two-hose-means for supplying the nozzle of the ejector with hydraulic pressure and for conducting away the dis charge rearwardly and upwardly to the surface.

5. Sewer-cleaning apparatus comprising a head adapted to pass through a sewer conduit and including a funnel and a hydraulic ejector having its intake at the narrow rear part of the funnel, means for advancing the head along the conduit, and ressure and discharge means having two ose connections with the head.

6. In sewer-cleaning apparatus, a head adapted to be drawn through a sewer conduit and having a collector approximating the -cross-section of the passage, a hydraulic ejector having its pressure nozzle directed rearward and its intake disposed to receive. the material from the collector, and externally acting agitator jets.

7. Sewer-cleaning apparatus, comprising a head adapted to be drawn through a sewer conduit and having a collector approximating the cross-section of the passage, a hydraulic ejector having its intake disposed to receive the material from the collector, and

which comprises advancing a pressure jet through the conduit,' causing the same to draw in and eject the accumulations, and

simultaneously conducting away the resulting stream of liquid and solids rearwardly of the direction of progress.

9. The method of cleaning sewer conduits which comprises advancing a rearwardly directed ejector jet through the conduit, and simultaneously conducting the resulting stream of liquids and solids rearwardly of the direction of progress and upward to the surface. v

IO.-The method of cleaning sewer conduits which comprises progressively dis lodging the accumulations along the conduit, and hydraulically delivering them rearward of-the direction of progress and upward to the surface.

11. The method of cleaning sewer conduits which comprises progressively collecting the accumulations along the conduit, simultaneously advancing a pressure jet and causing the same to eject the material, and conducting away the resulting stream of liquid and solids rearwardly of the direction of progress.

GEORGE W. OTTERSON. 

